The Grounding
by SouthernChickie
Summary: Set after "Rule Number One" before "Dangers of Holy Ground". When Tessa leaves Duncan and Rylan alone for the weekend things don't turn out quite as she had hoped. Now Complete.
1. The opening section

Disclaimers: Rylan's mine. Duncan's not. End of story.  
  
AN: This is set between two stories I have already posted "Rule Number One" and "The Dangers of Holy Ground". It revolves around Duncan and Rylan. I had a request to try this by Tyger Magick and decided to give it a shot. Tell me if you want to see more.  
  
Rylan ran in through the front door of the Antique shop. "Did they already leave?" she demanded before noticing Duncan was with a customer. "Oh, sorry," she apologized quickly. Duncan motioned her to the office and she went taking a seat behind the desk and dropping her bag in at her feet.  
  
A couple minutes later Duncan came in. "You're late. And yes, they already left. Richie says bye."  
  
"Dang. I wanted to be here before they left. I wanted to ask Richie something," Rylan answered carefully avoiding why she was late getting home from school.  
  
"You can ask him Monday when they get back." Tessa had needed to handle some business in Paris and decided to take Richie with her and leave Duncan and Rylan to get to know each other better. "How come you're late?" he asked. Rylan didn't answer just smirked slightly. "Detention, right?" Rylan nodded. "What did you do?"  
  
"Just got a little mouthy in Chemistry, that's all," she explained. Duncan didn't know Rylan very well. She had only been living with them two months, but Duncan knew her well enough to know that she was a younger female Richie in most respects. If she offered an explanation that quickly, it was a lie. He decided the truth would come out soon enough, and let her be. "Well," she said after a minute. "I've got some homework, yet, so I'm just gonna go do it." Duncan bit back a grin. She was volunteering to do her homework, something was up.  
  
"I think I'll close early today," Duncan said following her into the store and flipping the sign in the front widow before following her up the stairs. "What are you going to do tonight?"  
  
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I thought maybe I'd call Chris or something." Duncan thought for a minute, Chris was the boy Richie teased her about.  
  
"Boyfriends Chris?" he asked.  
  
She stopped and turned to glare at him. "He's not my boyfriend."  
  
He grinned at her. "Doesn't matter anyways. I have strict orders that you can't go out because you have a test tomorrow and," he added. "If you got detention today or tomorrow, you're grounded for the weekend. No going out, no phone."  
  
Rylan's face paled. "What? You can't do that!"  
  
"Just because Tessa signed your papers and I didn't doesn't mean I can't do that."  
  
"Sure it does," she insisted.  
  
"Fine, Tessa said she'd call when they got to the barge. She can tell you."  
  
Rylan sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "This sucks."  
  
"Hey, you being grounded grounds me too, you know," Duncan pointed out. "I can't leave you here by yourself."  
  
"Cause you don't trust me?" Rylan asked already getting over the betrayal.  
  
"I don't know you well enough to trust you. But I do know that you tend to follow Richie's example, and I know him well enough not to trust him," Duncan answered with a smile.  
  
Rylan returned the grin and clapped her small hand on his shoulder. "Smart man."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Friday afternoon the phone rang. "Hello?" Duncan answered.  
  
"Yes, I need to speak to Tessa Noel," the woman on the other line answered.  
  
"I'm sorry, she's gone for the weekend. Can I take a message?" He heard someone talking in the background.  
  
"Is this Duncan MacLeod?" the woman asked.  
  
"Yes it is."  
  
"I'm Cynthia Park, I'm Rylan's gym teacher."  
  
Duncan sighed, only Rylan could find a way to get in trouble in gym class. "What did she do?"  
  
"There's no need for alarm, but she's hurt."  
  
Duncan jumped to his feet and nearly dropped the phone. Tessa had had a hard enough time leaving Rylan with Duncan as it was. Now there was no way she was going to trust that he could take care of the teenage girl alone. "What happened?"  
  
"She got involved in a football game that got out of hand at lunch. She's injured her ankle."  
  
"Is she okay? Where is she?"  
  
"She's right here. She wants to talk to you."  
  
"Well, put her on," Duncan said. There was a slight pause as the phone exchanged hands.  
  
"Hey, Duncan," Rylan said softly.  
  
"Rylan, are you okay?"  
  
"It just hurts. They wanna take me to the hospital, I don't wanna go. . . not without you."  
  
"Tell them I'll be there in five minutes. I'll take you myself," he said dropping his voice to match hers. He could tell she was scared.  
  
"Okay. Thanks."  
  
"Five minutes," he reminded her before hanging up. 


	2. The comic section

AN: All I have to say is. . . this is not turning out to be Rylan's weekend, first she doesn't get to say good-bye to Tessa and Richie, then she gets grounded, then she hurts her ankle, and now. . . well, you'll just have to see.  
  
When Duncan got to the school Rylan was sitting in the front foyer waiting for him with her leg propped up on the lap of the boy sitting next to her, who was holding the ice on her ankle. She looked up as Duncan approached.  
  
"Bet you figured I was in trouble, huh?" she asked offering a grin.  
  
"I was curious to find out what you had done to get in trouble in gym," he admitted happy to see that she seemed to be feeling better. "Who's your friend?" he asked gesturing to the boy.  
  
"I'm Chris," the boy said in a deep baritone firmly shaking Duncan's hand. "Unfortunately, I'm also the guy who did this to her."  
  
"Well, remind me to thank you later. I should have an easier time keeping an eye on her if she can't walk," Duncan said with a smile assuring Chris he wasn't angry with him.  
  
"Duncan!" Rylan exclaimed turning a bright crimson.  
  
"I do feel awful about this, sir," Chris said. "If there's anything I can do to help. . . I know you own a store and it's just you and Lin this weekend, and I feel responsible for knocking out your help, so. . . if there's anything I can do, just give me a call."  
  
"That's very nice of you, Chris, but I think we'll manage," Duncan said. "I'll keep that in mind, though," he added when Chris began to protest. Then he turned to Rylan. "Let's go get you checked out, shall we?"  
  
"Okay," she began to shift, but Chris stopped her.  
  
"I gotcha," he said with a grin picking her up. She blushed torn between flirting and saving face in front of Duncan, and decided a good old- fashioned pout was just what this situation needed. Chris laughed, "Lead the way, Mr. MacLeod."  
  
Duncan opened the door and let Chris carry Rylan into the parking lot. She pointed out the car and he helped her settle into the passenger seat.  
  
"I'll bring your books by later," he told her softly closing the door.  
  
"Okay," she grinned the same grin she had given Duncan when they had first met. What Richie called her 'Damn he's cute' grin.  
  
Chris leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Sorry, Lin."  
  
"It's okay," she told him blushing again.  
  
Duncan cleared his throat. "It was nice meeting you, Chris," he said forcefully suddenly feeling very protective and fatherly.  
  
Chris turned around to face Duncan. To Duncan's surprise, Chris was an inch taller than he was. "Nice meeting you, too, sir," Chris responded suddenly embarrassed. Duncan got in the car and turned on the engine. "Bye, Lin!" Chris called as they drove away.  
  
"Not your boyfriend?" Duncan asked with a wicked smile. "Then what was all that about?"  
  
Rylan blushed and looked at him. "He wasn't my boyfriend yesterday. He is today. Got a problem with that?"  
  
"No," Duncan said speeding up to make the light. "Are you okay?"  
  
"The foot you mean?" Duncan nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"You just sounded scared on the phone."  
  
"I have a thing with nurses and stuff."  
  
"Oh."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
As soon as they got to the emergency room Rylan got sent for x-rays and Duncan was handed a small stack of papers to fill out. He filled in what he could then handed it to Rylan to finish when she got put into an examining room.  
  
"So what happened to you, Miss Rylan?" A copper-haired nurse sing songed coming into the small room. Duncan noticed Rylan immediately become very stiff.  
  
"Playing football," she answered.  
  
"Really?" The nurse asked. "You probably shouldn't do that," she said gently taking hold of Rylan's right foot.  
  
"What makes you think you can tell me what to do?" Rylan asked in a low voice.  
  
"Rylan," Duncan warned.  
  
"Mr. MacLeod?" a doctor asked from the doorway. "May I speak with you?" Duncan got up and followed the doctor into the hall, but not before shooting Rylan a look that said 'behave'.  
  
"Is something wrong?" he asked in alarm.  
  
"Rylan's just sprained her ankle. Nothing serious. I have a prescription for some painkillers. She needs to take two as soon as she gets home then after a couple hours if it still hurts she can take one at a time every four hours."  
  
"Okay," Duncan answered taking the prescription and wondering why the doctor had called him into the hall to give him a piece of paper.  
  
"Nurse Julie is wrapping her ankle right now. She should keep off it for the next couple of days. Hot baths would be good if the muscles get stiff," the doctor continued. Duncan nodded. "If she wants to take a bath just pay attention to how her ankle is wrapped, it's a basic technique, but needs to be done a certain way."  
  
"Yes, I know," Duncan said. "I also have an eighteen year old boy. I've done this before."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," the doctor said. "Two teenagers in one house, I can imagine the fights."  
  
"They actually get along very well."  
  
"I've never heard of a brother and sister getting along."  
  
"They're not brother and sister, they're adopted," Duncan answered figuring that was close enough to the truth.  
  
The doctor paused. "Yes, I suppose they would have to be," he said thoughtfully.  
  
Duncan didn't know what to think of that comment. "Is there anything else?"  
  
"That should be it. I'll have someone bring Rylan some crutches before you leave. Just keep her off that foot."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Duncan had never seen Rylan so mad. She sat silently fuming in the seat next to him on the way home.  
  
"Is anything wrong?" he asked.  
  
"No," she answered.  
  
Duncan didn't believe her and wasn't sure what to do about it. He decided to treat her like he would treat Richie in this situation. It was a tactic he often used with her and it almost always worked. They drove the rest of the way home in silence. When they got to the store Duncan helped Rylan out of the car, carried her up the stairs to the loft, and settled her on the couch with the remote in one hand and a soda in the other.  
  
"Tessa's going to kill me," he admitted softly looking at Rylan as her eyes began to droop in side effect of the painkillers. "She warned me not to break you, but I did anyway."  
  
"S'not your fault," Rylan slurred putting the soda on the coffee table and lying down.  
  
"Tessa's not going to believe that," he said getting up to cover her with the afghan off the back of the couch. "Are you hungry?"  
  
"Uh-huh," she mumbled quietly.  
  
"I'll wait a couple hours then order a pizza. I'll wake you when it gets here."  
  
"Mkay," Rylan said as she drifted off into a drug-induced sleep.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"She's fine," Duncan insisted to Tessa an hour later on the phone. "She's asleep right now. . . I don't know exactly something to do with football and Chris. . . her boyfriend." Duncan laughed as he heard Richie's triumphant cry of 'I knew it!' when Tessa told him about Chris. "He wasn't yesterday, he is today, won't be next week. She's younger than Richie, I doubt its going to last long. . . I'll have her call you tonight." There was a knock on the door. "Uh, dinner's ready," he said pretty sure Tessa wouldn't like him hurting Rylan then feeding her junk food. "I have to go. . . love you, too."  
  
He answered the door and then went to wake up Rylan. It took her a second to wake up, but once she did she began to scarf down half of the extra large pizza Duncan had ordered hoping that she could have the rest for lunch the next day. It didn't seem like there would be much left.  
  
"You must be feeling better," he commented.  
  
"Yeah, my stomach hurts a little, though. I think maybe I'm just going to go to bed."  
  
"Okay. Do you need any help?" Duncan asked getting up.  
  
"No, I got it," she said fumbling with her crutches before limping back into the bedroom she and Richie shared.  
  
Duncan shook his head. Three, two, one. . .  
  
"Um, Duncan?" Rylan's voice came from down the hall. Duncan smiled and went to see what she needed.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Late Saturday morning Duncan was sitting on the couch reading the paper after deciding not to leave Rylan alone until she woke up and he could get her what she needed. He turned when she cleared her throat. She was leaning half hidden against the door jam with an awkward look on her face.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"I need you to do me a favor," she said slowly.  
  
"Sure, what is it?"  
  
She blushed and trained her eyes on the floor. "Usually you'd be the last I'd ask to do this, but I don't really have a choice."  
  
"Rylan, what's wrong?" Duncan asked trying to decide if he was more amused or worried.  
  
Blushing she held out a pair of blood stained boxers. "I need you to go to the store," she said softly.  
  
For the first time in three hundred years, Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod, blushed.  
  
"Okay," he said slowly. It wasn't as if Tessa had never sent him out on such an errand, but then again Tessa wasn't a seventeen-year-old that he'd only known for two months. "Just tell me what you need." Quietly she gave him a short list. Duncan had gotten over the awkwardness of the situation and slipped into a father-mode he had never used before. "Okay," he got up and steered her toward his bedroom, realizing why she was half hidden; she was half-naked. She wasn't wearing any pants, just a t-shirt and bloody underwear. "Why don't you take a nice hot bath in the jacuzzi? It would be good for your ankle and your stomach. I'll get everything cleaned up, then go to the store and be right back."  
  
"You don't have to do that," Rylan protested. "I can clean it up. It's pretty gross. It looks like I got stabbed or something."  
  
"I can take care of it," he assured her helping her limp into the bathroom. He turned on the water and told her to drop what she was wearing outside the door and he'd throw that in the wash as well before turning and leaving.  
  
He went into her room and stared. There was blood all over her bed: on the sheets, the comforter, and the mattress pad. Slowly he gathered it all up and added her pajamas to the pile before stuffing it into the washing machine. He told her through the bathroom door that he was leaving then left.  
  
When he returned she was still in the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door. "You okay in there?"  
  
"Yeah," came the slow reply.  
  
Duncan paused. "What's wrong?"  
  
"There aren't any towels in here," Rylan softly explained.  
  
Duncan froze. "You sure?"  
  
"Uh-huh." She sounded like she was about to cry.  
  
Duncan tried not to laugh loud enough for her to hear. This had to be horrible for her, but it was really funny. One incredibly embarrassing moment after another with no end in site. The next came when Duncan opened the door a crack with a towel, clean clothes, underwear and a box of tampons in his hands.  
  
"What are you doing?" she screamed jumping and sending water sloshing over the side of the tub.  
  
"Don't worry," Duncan assured her not looking in. "Get as close to this side of the tub as you can. I'm going to turn off the lights, and put this stuff where you can reach it. I promise I'm not going to look." He heard Rylan moving in the water. "Tell me when you're ready."  
  
"Okay, you can come in," she said softly after a minute. Duncan opened the door and did exactly as he had promised.  
  
A couple minutes later Rylan hobbled out into the living room with the ace bandage in her hand. She leaned against the couch and looked shyly at Duncan who was in the kitchen.  
  
"Yes?" he asked after a minute.  
  
She held up the bandage. "I can't do it."  
  
Duncan smiled. "Sit down." He went over and wrapped her ankle showing her how to do it for next time, but assuring her he would do it if she wanted. She thanked him quietly. He smiled again. "I won't tell if you won't," he said lightly touching her cheek.  
  
She looked up at him. "Deal," she said quietly.  
  
Duncan sat down next to Ryan and looked at her. "Do you mind if I ask you something? It's been bothering me."  
  
Rylan shrugged apparently putting the embarrassment behind her. "Shoot."  
  
"Why were you so rude to the nurse at the hospital?" Rylan's eyes flashed with anger before darting away from Duncan's. "Just, between you and Richie, you're the well behaved one. That was very out of character for you."  
  
"Congratulations, you the first to meet her. Even beat Richie to it," Rylan mumbled.  
  
"First to meet who?" Duncan asked.  
  
"My mom," she answered angrily.  
  
Duncan did a mental double take. If Rylan's mom was still alive, and apparently doing very well for herself, what was Rylan doing up for adoption? "Rylan?" Duncan asked gently. "Why don't you live with your mother?"  
  
Something pitiful crossed Rylan's face before she answered. "She doesn't want me," she said simply.  
  
TBC 


	3. The dramatic section

"Rylan, how can you say that?" Duncan asked appalled by what he had just heard.  
  
"It's true."  
  
"It can't be," he said gently. "There has to be a reason, maybe you just don't know it."  
  
Rylan looked at him. "The first two times, she had a reason. Now, she just doesn't want me." Her bottom lip trembled.  
  
Duncan shifted and put his arm around her. "The first two times?" he asked.  
  
Rylan remained quiet for a moment and Duncan could tell by the look on her face that she was debating what to do. "I'm the youngest of five," she started quietly. "I have four older brothers."  
  
"What are their names?"  
  
"Kevin, Brendan, Whitney, they're twins, and Skylar."  
  
"Do they live with your mom? Is that why you think she doesn't want you?"  
  
"No, none of us do. She gave us all up." She blinked a couple times trying to fight back the tears that stung at her eyes.  
  
"Rylan, what happened?" Duncan gently probed hoping to help.  
  
"When I was real little, not even two, my dad got real sick and he couldn't work. So my mom got a job and left all us kids with him. But he just kept getting worse, and she couldn't take care of him and all of us. So she called CPS and they took us away. Kevin refused to let me go to a home by myself so they found a couple that were willing to take a one-year-old and a ten-year-old. And my other brothers went somewhere else. Every other weekend we'd go see my mom, they wouldn't let us see my dad, I don't know why. My mom kept telling us it was only temporary. She lied. Then when I was six, my dad died. The only things I know about him is what Kevin told me, he didn't want me to forget him. But I kinda have. When I was eight my mom had a job and decided she wanted all of us back. So we moved back." She took a few deep breaths and Duncan waited for her to continue. "I guess she didn't realize how much money it took to raise five kids, cause we started running out real fast. There was never enough food, it was really cold and we couldn't afford to pay the heating bill, we were all growing like crazy and clothes got too small really fast. She couldn't take it. So one day CPS showed up again. They took me, Skylar and the twins. Kevin was almost eighteen, he joined the Marines. The twins got adopted real fast, they were cute, smart, funny, people wanted them." She fell silent and continued to fight the emotions bubbling up inside her.  
  
"What happened to Skylar?" Duncan asked hoping that maybe he could talk Tessa into getting a bigger house and another kid. He'd figure out a way to handle it all later.  
  
"Three years ago, he got real sick." Duncan immediately regretted asking the question. "I think it might have been whatever my dad had. Nobody ever told me. But he died two years ago. He was my age, he wanted to be a Marine like Kevin, but he never got the chance. So, now I'm the only one left." She lost the battle and let the tears fall.  
  
"Rylan, I am so sorry." Duncan held her tightly.  
  
"But you wanna know what really pisses me off?" Rylan asked over his shoulder. He let go of the hug but kept his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What really pisses me off is that she had the nerve," Rylan's voice had a dangerous edge to it even as the tears fell down her cheeks. "The nerve to tell me, yesterday, that she was married. Then to top it all off, she invited me to dinner so I could meet my step dad and their two kids. Apparently the older one looks just like me. I wanna know how she can tell," she scoffed.  
  
"You think she doesn't want you because she has two kids and she's keeping them," Duncan stated fighting the urge to get that woman's address and give her a piece of his mind.  
  
"I makes since doesn't it? That's why I wanted you to go to the hospital with me. To show her I didn't need her. I knew that if she was there and I was there and she knew she'd want to come see me. And I wanted to let her know that I found something better. That I don't care that I'm not part of her life, that I don't need her, or want her, or anything."  
  
"Good for you," Duncan cheered her. "You moved on, you put it behind you. You're stronger than that."  
  
"Damn right I am!" Rylan agreed.  
  
"You don't need her."  
  
"Hell no!"  
  
"You got it all covered."  
  
"Damn straight!"  
  
"You got everything you need right here."  
  
"And in Paris," Rylan added. "No offence, but you gotta let Tessa and Richie in on this."  
  
"Them, too," Duncan consented.  
  
"If I got everything I need, how come I feel so rotten?" Rylan asked suddenly her voice shaking.  
  
"Because you have a heart," Duncan answered. "And it's been hurt pretty bad. You're not made of stone."  
  
"Wish I was," Rylan sniffed.  
  
"It's hard to love stone," he said gently hugging her again. "It's pretty easy to love you. You're a good kid, Rylan. And that lady is missing out on a hell of show. But I think she does miss you."  
  
"You do?" she asked sniffing and looking up at him without letting go of him.  
  
"Why else would she keep wanting to see you at the hospital? Maybe she wants you back in her life and doesn't know how to ask."  
  
"Well, she can forget it. She had her chance and she blew it, twice. I don't want to get to know her or her new family."  
  
"And no one is going to force you to. It's your decision, and I'll support whatever decision you make," Duncan assured her. "I think I've got something that will make you feel better." He got up and went into the kitchen and returned with a pint of chocolate fudge and caramel ripple ice cream and a spoon. He crouched down in front of her and gave it to her. "I was going to save this for later, but I think you need it now."  
  
She laughed lightly. "What makes you think food will make me feel better?"  
  
"Because," he shrugged with a grin. She blushed and looked down. "Hey," he said raising her chin to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, sweat heart, this has got to be really rough on you. But, you're right, you know. You found something better. Tough luck to your mom, you're ours now. And were not letting you go anywhere. You got that?"  
  
"Yes, sir," she said with a salute.  
  
"Do you want to be alone?" he asked. She nodded. "Okay, I'll be down stairs if you need me."  
  
Duncan could hear Rylan's sobs begin before he was even half way down the stairs.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Rylan, it's been over an hour Chris has to go home," Duncan said. That afternoon Chris had come by with Rylan's books and Duncan decided to lift the grounding and let him stay to cheer her up.  
  
"Really?" she asked.  
  
"Really. I'm not falling for that look again. So you two say good-bye then I want you out of here," Duncan said pointing at Chris and then leaving the teens alone.  
  
After Chris had left Duncan rejoined Rylan in the living room.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Homework," she grumbled good-naturedly digging around in her bag and pulling out her chemistry book.  
  
"Actually I was going to say, you look tired," Duncan said.  
  
"Maybe a little," she admitted. Duncan smiled; she even sounded like Richie at times.  
  
"Do you want to take a nap, maybe relax in the tub?" he offered. "I promise I'll check for towels myself."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Both actually sound pretty nice."  
  
"So both it is," Duncan said taking the heavy book from her hands and putting it on the coffee table. "Which do you want first?"  
  
Rylan thought for a second. "Bath," she decided.  
  
"Okay." He got up and followed her to his bedroom. "Sit down for a second. I'll get everything ready for you," he ordered going into the bathroom. He sifted through the bottles on Tessa's counter and found lavender scented bubble bath soap and poured it into the hot water as he filled the large tub. He lit a couple candles and set a towel next to the tub. He had done this plenty of times before for Tessa, granted he usually joined her, but Rylan needed to be pampered today. So he was going to do it.  
  
Rylan watched Duncan move around in the bathroom and wondered what he was doing. She ran her hand over the soft fabric of their bedspread. She loved Duncan and Tessa's bed. It was so big, and soft, and comforting somehow. Casting a quick glance towards the bathroom to make sure Duncan wasn't looking, she decided to see if their pillows were as cushy as they looked. They were.  
  
Once everything was ready Duncan went back out into the room to get Rylan, and found her fast asleep on his bed. He smiled; she looked so small all alone in their king sized four-post bed. Shaking his head he went into the bathroom and blew out the candles and pulled the plug in the drain. Before he left he took the quilt off the trunk at the foot of the bed and covered Rylan up. Somehow he couldn't resist kissing her forehead softly.  
  
"Good Night, Rylan."  
  
TBC 


	4. The ending section

Duncan sat on the couch and stared across the room. He felt so bad for Rylan. That girl had been through way too much for any seventeen-year-old. He remembered joking with her that he had spent nights staying up and reading her file and knew everything about her. He realized that he didn't know anything about her. Looking back he realized that Rylan looked a lot like her mom. He should have at least noticed that they had the same copper hair and light brown eyes. The phone rang pulling Duncan from his thoughts.  
  
"Hello?" he answered hoping he had gotten it before the ringing woke Rylan.  
  
"Hey, Mac," Richie answered rather distractedly. "Can I talk to Rylan?"  
  
"I'm fine. How are you?" Duncan joked.  
  
"Mac, it's kinda important. Is she even there?"  
  
"Yes, she's here. But she's asleep. What do you want?"  
  
"To talk to Rylan!" Richie exclaimed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Duncan asked.  
  
"I just need to talk to her."  
  
"Richie, I'm not going to wake her up, just so you can tell her about some girl you met."  
  
"Mac!" Richie's annoyance was evident in his voice. "This isn't about something stupid. It's important."  
  
"Too important to wait until Monday?"  
  
"Yes," Richie insisted.  
  
"What is it?" There was a pause. "Richie?"  
  
"Just keep an eye on her tonight, would ya, Mac?" Richie asked softly. "This is kinda a hard time for her. If I had realized I wouldn't have left."  
  
"Richie, what are you talking about?"  
  
"Just promise."  
  
"I will," Duncan promised. "Are you going to tell me why?"  
  
Less than five minutes later Duncan was downstairs bypassing the West Side Orphanage computer security. He typed in 'Fisher, Rylan Elizabeth' and her files came up. He scanned for what he was looking for. Richie had been right; today was the eleventh anniversary of her father's death and the second anniversary of her brother's. Tomorrow was the day she had officially been given up for adoption. No wonder Richie felt so horrible for not being with her, this was the first year he hadn't. They had been together on this night every year since she was four, but this time Duncan had to be the one to comfort her. He hadn't the slightest clue what to do. Richie told him that they usually stayed up all night talking, or if they wanted to sleep, they slept together. Duncan couldn't do the later, but if she needed he could do the former he decided. He went upstairs to check on her.  
  
She was quietly sleeping having found her way to the center of the bed. Her hair had half fallen out of the rubber band she had tied it back in. Duncan sat down in a chair and looked at her. She looked so peaceful on the outside, but he could almost hear the emotions battling inside of her. She shifted, rolling onto her stomach, and a large chunk of hair worked its way free of the band and fell across her face. Even though she seemed unaffected by it, Duncan got up and lightly brushed it aside. She mumbled something and continued sleeping.  
  
"You seem to be okay," Duncan quietly observed.  
  
"Uh-huh," she sleepily agreed.  
  
Duncan smiled and decided to leave her alone and went out into the living room, keeping an ear open in case she needed him. Duncan wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he heard Rylan exit his room and go straight to her's with a quiet sniff. He got up and went to the kitchen deciding to heed Richie's advice before checking on her.  
  
Rylan was sitting on her bed leaning against the headboard with her knees pulled to her chest when Duncan pushed the door open.  
  
"You look like a girl who could use some hot chocolate," he said handing her a mug and sitting on the edge of her bed.  
  
"Sorry about falling asleep like that," she mumbled staring down at the brown liquid.  
  
"You were tired."  
  
"Today is when my dad died, Skylar, too," she said quietly after a minute.  
  
"I know." Duncan looked at the small girl sitting in front of him. Suddenly he realized that she wasn't a younger female Richie, she was a completely different person. She shared some of his qualities and personality traits, but she was different. Richie had taken more convincing to gain his trust, and he still didn't offer up information as easily as Rylan did. Richie was a grown-up who just needed a little guidance, Rylan was a little girl who still needed parents, somebody to hold her and promise her everything was okay. She needed to be told that she wasn't the reject. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.  
  
"No," she answered softly.  
  
"Do you want to cry about it?"  
  
"Yes," she said as she let the first tears fall.  
  
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked starting to stand.  
  
She reached out and grabbed his hand. "No," she told him. "Will you stay?"  
  
"Of course, Rylan." He got up and moved to sit next to her and gently pulled her to him. She leaned into him and cried. He took the mug from her hands before she could spill it into his lap; the last thing she needed right now was to learn about immortals. She put her arms around his waist and hugged him with strength that surprised him. Then he remembered what Richie said about Rylan liking to work out. He decided to start getting her to go to the gym with him once her ankle was better. The bonding would do them both some good. He looked down and discovered she had fallen asleep again. He started to get up, but she held onto him tightly and he resigned to a night of uncomfortable sleep.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
When Duncan woke up Rylan wasn't there. He stretched and breathed in deeply not overly concerned; her crutches were in the corner and he could smell bacon. He stood up and decided that a hot shower would be good for his stiff back. He walked to the kitchen and found that Rylan had dragged a chair in front of a stove so she could kneel on it while she watched the bacon and eggs.  
  
"Smells great," Duncan greeted putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Thanks, nothing fancy, but it's the only thing I know how to make."  
  
"I'll teach you how to make French toast tomorrow, if you want," he offered getting glasses down from the cupboard.  
  
"Cool."  
  
"Are you feeling better today?"  
  
"Yeah, although I feel a little stupid having cried like I did," she admitted.  
  
"Everybody's entitled to a good cry sometimes. And you had more than enough to cry about." He put two glasses of orange juice on the table. "You going to do your homework today?"  
  
"Of course," she sighed. She began spooning eggs onto two plates, then added the bacon and cinnamon toast and handed the plates to Duncan.  
  
"Do you want to go with me to get Tessa and Richie tomorrow?" Duncan offered.  
  
"Don't they get back in the middle of school?"  
  
"Well, yes. But I've been thinking about that. Do you have any tests tomorrow?" Rylan shook her head. "Anything really important that's due?" She shook her head again. "Then why don't you take the day off. We'll just say you're ankle was really bothering you and the pills put you to sleep."  
  
Rylan grinned. "That would be a lie," she said matter of factly.  
  
"Since when do you have a problem with lying?"  
  
"I thought you did."  
  
"Nope," Duncan shook his head and grinned, resolving never to be in charge of Rylan again. She made him go soft and all he wanted to do was make her happy.  
  
"Then it's fine with me."  
  
"But you still have to get all your work today. And you have to get all your makeup work done, too."  
  
"Deal." They shook hands. 


End file.
